offers enough horseplay, especially by Ergasilus, to keep a Roman audience from souring on his “noble” aspirations. Critical evaluation The German poet and philosopher Gotthold Ephraim Lessing famously pronounced Captivi to be the finest play ever staged. This hyperbolic praise has been deprecated by later critics, but the play has still earned plaudits for treating important ethical issues. Ben Jonson indirectly paid tribute to the play by adapting the plot of Captivi for his early comedy The Case is Altered. The lack of obvious sexual humor, so common in Plautus’ other works, has also occasioned much critical comment and occasional approval. Less sympathetic critics, such as E.F. Watling, have written harshly about Captivi’s loose plotting, rushed conclusion, and too-short time scheme. Others have dismissed these concerns as rather pedantic and irrelevant to a play that does not pretend to be rigorously realistic. In 2016, Jeff S. Dailey directed a limited-run Off Broadway production at the John Cullum Theatre in midtown Manhattan, using an amalgamation of several Victorian translations. His direction won a Jean Dalrymple Award for Innovative Theatre, in the category of Best Direction of a Classical Play. Translations Henry Thomas Riley, 1912: Captivi full text Paul Nixon, 1916-38: Captivi full text Sir kibwe fletcher, 1942 E. F. Watling, 1965 Paul Roche, 1968 Moore Richard, 1995 David M. Christenson, 2008 Reviewed in BMCR Wolfang de Melo, 2011 References External links Scholarly review of a book of essays on Captivi (Henry Thomas Riley translation) Plays about slavery Plays by Plautus Plays about war Plays set in ancient Greece